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How many times in your career have you heard that phrase? Even if
you pride yourself on being a hard worker, your ultimate goal
should be to work more productively
and efficiently, freeing you up for more time away from the
office.

I know firsthand that for entrepreneurs, this is easier said than
done. We’re workhorses by nature. And yet the best ideas don’t
happen at desks or in offices. Some of my best work ideas have
come in those unplugged moments, on vacation or on my bike. It’s
only through time spent away from the grind that we can recharge
our minds and reinvigorate our passions.

In today’s world, incredible technology, mobile apps, devices and
cloud-based productivity tools should enable everyone to
work smarter, leveraging the latest technological advances to
power increased efficiency, productivity and results.

And yet, according to the latest survey by my company,
PGi, 88 percent or workers work more than 40 hours week and
the traditional 9-to-5 workday has vanished. The survey
results prompted PGi to launch a content
campaign, #TakeBack60, dedicated to providing
productivity tips, technology resources and work-life balance
ideas to help people reclaim 60 minutes from their week.
The campaign, begun last week, extends to just before
Labor Day.

People are increasingly sacrificing family time, hobbies, fitness
and more in the interest of meeting deadlines or knocking out one
more assignment.

One part of the problem is that technology is not being
applied to our work lives in an intelligent way. Technology has
the potential to make work quicker, easier and more efficient.
But technology in and of itself isn’t intelligent enough to
distinguish between what’s possible and what’s best for you as an
individual. Instead, apps and devices can mindlessly heap more
work on you and deliver information to you anywhere at any time,
but technology still requires your input to be truly valuable.
The input required can vary widely, from choosing the most
intuitive tool to simply managing notifications on a smartphone.

Simply put, technology is about doing more things more quickly.
The “better” part of the equation still requires human
interaction -- for now.

Ultimately, the missing piece of this perpetually overworked
puzzle is the need to change philosophies and behaviors alongside
technologies. Think of all the things people can now do without
being shackled to a desk, thanks to smartphones and tablets. It's
possible to answer emails, download and edit documents, manage
projects and workflows and even have face-to-face virtual
meetings from practically anywhere.

Workers tend to believe that because these things are possible
they’ve become expected. But it’s vitally important for both
management and employees to establish boundaries around their
technologically empowered work lives. Without boundaries, work
becomes a 24/7 proposition, leading to overwork and all of its
associated problems: stress, lower morale, poor performance and
reduced productivity.

Your leadership must set the standard; if you’re constantly
emailing after hours, your team is going to see that as an
expectation. I know that I’m guilty of this, and sometimes the
work simply calls for it. But if you never unplug, your team
won’t know if they’re allowed to or not, leading to increased
stress rather than increased productivity. And that’s not even
accounting for the stress you’re causing yourself.

Perhaps someday work applications and devices will be smart
enough to know people better than they know themselves,
keeping them from succumbing to the perils of overwork. But until
then, individuals have to take responsibility for themselves to
take back some of those extra hours and spend them on the things
-- and with the people -- that truly matter.